


Helping Hand

by KPenDragon



Series: Cyber City verse [2]
Category: Transformers - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Cyber City, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-10
Updated: 2013-11-10
Packaged: 2018-02-12 06:20:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2098812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KPenDragon/pseuds/KPenDragon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Skyfall, Starscream's secretary, goes searching for him in the middle of a thunderstorm, hoping he'd have knowledge of where her boyfriend Nightglide is. Unfortunately, he isn't that great at updating his personal information, and she ends up instead on his older brother Thundercracker's doorstep.</p><p>Gift for my friend, featuring her OC Skyfall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Helping Hand

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Cor--Cordis](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Cor--Cordis).



It was raining. Rain wasn’t uncommon in the city, but when it rained it made everything miserable. And the way she was feeling, it just piled on the misery. Skyfall had been searching for Nightglide for…even she couldn’t remember how long she’d been at it. He wasn’t answering his phone, and no one had seen him at his usual haunts. Her last hope was the off handed remark he’d said to her that morning about running an errand for their boss, Starscream. So she came up out of the subway, into the dismally gray rain. She checked her hurriedly scrawled note before stepping out into the downpour, _Apartment 224, 14 Virginia Avenue_ , that was the only address she could finding her boss’s contact information (he really did need to update those files; she really deserved a pay raise for all the work she had to do). She tucked the paper back into her pocket, and braved the rain.

As it always seemed, the minute she stepped out from covering, it rained even harder. She tried to pull the collar of her coat up, but the chill still swept its way in. The trek the block to her destination felt long dragged out, and with each step her dread and misery just increased; the feelings just kept piling on and on, trying to drag her down. At last though, she came to the looming gray apartment building. She didn’t look up at it for long, due to the constant falling of raindrops into her vision. An attempt to open the door though found it locked, and her heart sank even further as she shivered in the downpour.

Fortune chanced a pity smile on her though. Someone in the building’s lobby spotted her and came over to open the door from the inside. Of course at the same moment a rather large gray dog also managed to slip its way out between the two of them. She started to jump back at that, never having seen an animal that large, but the man who’s opened the door spoke quickly.

“Don’t worry, he’s friendly I promise. Come in before you freeze,” he stepped aside while still holding the door for her to allow her in; she happily slipped into the warmth. “Dave get your furry ass back in here!” 

The dog hopped around in a puddle or two, snapped up at a few falling raindrops, then paused to look at his master. The man made another gesture for the animal to return, to which the dog grinned, and with a wagging tail bounded right on back inside, making sure to splash in as many puddles as it could along the way. The white haired man chuckled at it all, shaking his head, and making sure to close the door once his pet was back inside.

“Sorry about that,” he apologized to her again, then moved to grab the dog’s collar to hold him back.

“I-It’s ok,” she managed to mutter slightly, finally taking a good look the pair.

The man was huge, just like his dog. Tall and fairly muscular, with darkened skin that contrasted highly with his silvering hair. And an eye patch, as well as she couldn’t help but catch sight of some scars across his wrist as he held the animal at bay. And again, that dog was huge! It seemed friendly enough, but she wasn’t really a dog person. Just the sight of them both, added to her already fading drive, it was over whelming.

Whether he could sense that about her or not, she didn’t really know, but the man tugged back his dog again, and this time the animal tore away his interest from her, looked up to his master, than sat, looking up and waiting.

“Can I help you with something?” he asked. “You looking for someone?”

“Wh-what?” it took her a moment to get her thoughts back to her task at hand. “Oh, um, yes, I-I-I’m looking for,’ she felt on her pocket for her note again. “224?”

He did his best to give her a reassuring smile, but just something about that eye patch took away from it. “Stairs at the end of the hall there,” he pointed, “Go up one flight, it’s in the middle of the hallway. If you hit the elevators you went too far.”

She nodded, tucking her note away again. “Th-thank you.”

“No problem,” he let go of the dog’s collar now, turning. “C’mon Dave, mail run.”

The dog hopped up lickety split, tail wagging happily as he followed along at the man’s side as they headed off down another hallway.

She didn’t dwell on that any longer; different people lived in different places after all. Instead she followed the directions she was given, going down the hallway she was directed to, going up the stairs, then on eth new floor watching each black set of numbers painted on the doors, searching for the one she needed to find.

At last, she found it. 224. She was shivering from the damp cold she’d brought in with her, but she did her best to ignore it. Starscream wouldn’t he happy that she was bothering him at home after hours, but she was desperate. She braced herself for the barrage of yelling she was certain she was going to get, and silently apologized to all the neighbors it would certainly bother as she knocked.

She waited a few moments, but there didn’t seem to be any signs of life from inside. She gnawed on her lower lip a little, nervously, but she tapped again.

“Please…” she whispered under her breathe. “Please be here…”

Just as she was about to knock a third time she heard steps, then a set of clicks as she assumed locks were undone on the other side of the door. As it opened, she found her tongue moving ahead of herself,

“Mr. Starscream, I’m sorry but I had to come see if you’d seen…”

Then her voice was lost as her eyes lit upon the young boy who had answered the door. He couldn’t be more than 10 years old, if that even. He was neutral toned, with gingerish hair (which was very different from her albino boss’ coloring for sure). Glasses that seemed too big for him framed red eyes that seemed as confused to see her as she was to see him.

“Starscream?” he asked.

“I-I-I,” she stuttered, starting to breakdown from a combination of her weariness and rain induced coldness. Tears started to stream down her face as she tried to apologize.

This greatly startled and concerned the boy. He stepped back slightly in to the apartment and yelled back for his father. A moment later another rather tall man came to the door, replacing the boy who moved off back into an unseen room; he wasn’t as muscular as the man she’d met in the lobby, but he was also darker toned with black hair. But he had his son’s red eyes, and if she hadn’t been falling apart, she would have realized that they were also her boss’.

“Can I help you?”

“I-I-I,” she just looked down, the tears blinding her at this point. “I’m so s-sorry. I’ve juts been so worried and I’ve looked everywhere for him. I-I thought Mr. Starscream might kn-know where he was, b-but this was the only address I had an-and I-I-I just, I…”

“You’re looking for Starscream?”

She nodded slightly. “I-I’m Skyfall his secretary…this address was in his c-contact information…”

“Figures,” he snorted slightly. “Lazy bum never updates anything.”

She blinked, looking up at that.

He offered her a slightly smile. “You want to come in and dry off, maybe have something warm to drink, while I give him a call for you?”

“I…ok.”

He stepped aside to let her in. She was still a little uneasy about this, but despite better judgment she came in. As he closed the door behind her, he introduced himself,

“I’m Thundercrcaker by the way.”

“Thundercracker?”

He snorted again, moving past her gently to go into a kitchen that was just to the left of the door. “Let me guess, Screamer hasn’t mentioned anything about his private life, has he?”

She shook her head, taking another slight step in, trying to be careful of where she stepped so she wouldn’t drip everywhere, but also so she could look around the place. It wasn’t that large of a place, but it wasn’t that small either. The door went to a semi hallway that turned to the right which led to at least one, if not two other room, while directly to the left was a doorway that lead to a kitchen, while before it, it opened up into what looked like a living room area. The back of the couch there faced the door, and she could see peeking over the top edge the boy’s red eyes, watching her curiously.

“Cloud, say hello to your uncle’s secretary,” TC called from the kitchen.

That surprised her; she didn’t know that her boss has any family. She knew his personnel file was sparse, but she just chalked it up to, well as this man had put it, being a “lazy bum” about it. But then again, he didn’t talk much about his personal life at work, least of all to her. What with the hours he kept, she just assumed he had no family; after all, who would want to stay at work into all hours if they had someone at home to return to at night?

“Hello.”

The small voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she looked back to the couch, and now saw more than just a set of eyes peeking over at her. She did her best to offer him a smile.

“Hello to you too. My name’s Skyfall, what’s yours?”

“Cloudsnatcher.”

“That’s a pretty impressive name.”

He grinned at that, which just made her smile a little more. She had always had a soft spot for small animals and children, that’s why she had a act at home after all.

There was a whistle from behind them both, which made the boy look up, and she turn. Thundercracker was back in the kitchen doorway.

“Go get Ms. Skyfall a couple towels Cloud.”

The boy nodded and hopped off the couch to do down that little hallway. She started to turn to the man, but instead she found him offering to help her with her coat.

“You shouldn’t stay in this wet thing.”

“Oh, I-I,” she couldn’t help the blush that spread across her nose as she stammered. “You don’t have to do that.”

“It’s no trouble, really.”

She let him peel the wet garment off her body; once it was gone though she felt much colder. Luckily, the boy returned with an arm load of towels in various colors and patterns. His father passed him as he took the coat down that hallway now, undoubtedly to go dry it. Cloudsnatcher motioned for her to come over to the couch with him; she followed with a few careful steps. He dumped the stack of towels at first onto the couch, and then offered her the one on top, which she took with a thankful smile. As she wrapped herself up in it, he then began placing the others on eth couch; he was making a spot for her to sit.

“Wow, thank you, you’re quite the little gentleman.”

He just grinned at that, and after she took the made up seat, he climbed back up onto his spot on the couch. The TV was still playing whatever program the little family had been watching when she arrived; the boy returned to watching it for the most part. She took this opportunity to look around a bit more.

The apartment was homely enough; it definitely looked lived in, for a while too. There were some old fade spots on the wall where pictures had been moved from, as well as some pretty basic furniture. There were a lot of photos of the pair that lived here though, a few even included some other adults in them, and it didn’t take her long to find her boss in one of those. There were also several framed awards, the type given out at schools, that no doubt belonged to the boy sitting at her side; she smiled a bit at that. A TV with a DVD/VCR on a stand, and a laptop that was laying on a coffee table in front of her, still on, most likely left abandoned when she arrived. It certainly didn’t look like a place she could see her boss living in.

“Alright, your coat should be dry in 20 minutes,” Thundercracker had come back now, saying that as he passed through to go back to the kitchen.

“Oh, thank,” she turned her head to thank him, but only caught the tail of him heading back into the kitchen, “You…”

She turned back forward and slumped a little in her towel, pulling it closer around herself. Then but a moment later there was a coffee mug offered practically right next to her face and she also squeaked in surprise.

“Hope you like cocoa.”

“Oh, uh-um-yes, thank you,” she sat back up and took the offered cup; the ceramic was warm to her fingers, and just felt wonderful.

“Can I have some cocoa dad?”

The man nodded as he came around the end of the couch. “You know where the stuff is in the kitchen.”

Cloudsnatcher nodded and once again hopped up from his seat and went to go do that. His father now took his seat more or less. Being close to such a large man was making her a bit nervous, but she did her best not to show it; she was much more happy to have the warm liquid bring life back into her chilled bones anyways. After a few sips, she set the mug down slightly, holding it on her lap; she looked to the man next to her, but oddly enough he wasn’t watching her, instead he seemed focused on the TV. She was a little confused at that; obviously if there was a stranger in her home, she would be watching them like a hawk. But at the same time, she really didn’t want to interrupt him…

“So you came looking for Screamer?”

Again he nearly made her squeak with surprise. She nodded her reply, readjusting her hold on the warm mug. “Will he be back soon?”

“My brother doesn’t live here,” he looked to her now as he spoke, “Not officially at least. He crashes here whenever he can’t get back into his high rise apartment uptown, he’s too drunk to make it home, or he needs a sympathy fix.”

“Oh,” was the only response she could give, looking down.

“You said you worked for him right? His secretary at Kaon?”

She nodded.

“You’re not sleeping with him are you?”

“Wh-what?” she cough-chocked at that. “N-No, why would you…?”

“Just judging if I needed to take you over there myself or not,” that was a pretty obtuse reason, but it was the only one he gave as he stood up. “Let me see if I have his number written down.”

She nodded, watching him get up and go over to some wooden stand, where he pulled out what looked like an address book. The silence felt awkward, and she wanted to fill it with something, even though she really didn’t feel like it was her place to speak here.

“I didn’t know he had a brother.”

“Two actually,” he paused in his page flipping to point to one specific photo, “And a sister. Screamer’s the middle child, Stream’s the princess, Sky’s the baby, and lucky me, I’m the eldest.”

She nodded, though she knew he wasn’t watching her as he went back to his flipping. She studied the picture, and a vague memory prickled at the back of her memory saying that she’d seen the lady in the photo before around Kaon, but she hadn’t thought that she and her boss were related. Then again, his paleness was very different from the darker tones of his siblings.

“Are you the only one that’s married?”

“I’m not married.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, I just…” she bit her lip nervously.

“It’s fine,” he brushed it off, pulling out a couple stacks of letters now, thumbing through those, apparently not finding what he was looking for in the address book. “And no she’s not dead, she left.”

She looked down, feeling horrible now for prying like that, even if his responses made it seem like this was a typical thing he was asked. Silence came again, with him still looking and her sitting there. She was about to take another sip of her beverage when she felt a sudden vibration right under her ribs. It surprised her enough to finally get her to let out that squeak; Thundercracker stopped his searching to look at her in confusion.

It went off again, and then she finally remembered that that was where her cell phone was. She set the mug down on the coffee table quickly but carefully, and let the towel drop off of her shoulders as she went reaching for the mobile devise. Her heart leapt as she recognized the call ID and she couldn’t get the piece to her ear fast enough.

“Nightglide! Where have you been?? I have been worried sick about you! Why haven’t you been answering your phone? I tried looking everywhere for you!”

 _“Hey, hey, Sky, shhh, calm down,”_ came the voice on the other end, and she just couldn’t help but relax at hearing him. _“Just slow down ok?”_

“Ok…” she said a bit meekly.

_“Where are you? Are you ok?”_

“Where are you?” she asked again. “Where have you been?”

_“The job took a little longer than expected, that’s all.”_

“Glide…”

_“It’s fine Sky, I swear. Tell me where you are, and I’ll come get you, then we’ll go home together, ok.”_

“Ok I guess…” she really didn’t like that answer, mostly because it wasn’t an answer at all. But it was pointless arguing about it over the phone anyways. “I’m at Starscream’s brother’s apartment.”

 _“Scream has a brother?”_ he sounded just as surprised as she had been. _“Wait, why are you there?”_

“I came looking for him, hoping he’d tell me where you were. His contact information was a little…outdated…”

_“Yeah, ok, I guess that makes sense. Just tell me where and I’ll come get you.”_

“No, it’s ok, I’ll just meet you back home.”

_“Sky.”_

“Really Nightglide,” she chanced a glance at Thundercracker, “I don’t want to impose here any longer than I already have. Just promise me you’ll be home when I get there.”

He was quiet for a moment, but in the end he gave in like he usually did, _“Alright. I’ll see you at home then.”_

“See you at home. I love you.”

_“You too.”_

Then the line clicked off. She looked down at her silent cell phone for a few moments, and then looked up as she put it back in her pocket.

“That was my boyfriend,” she explained, standing up, “I was looking for him.”

“I sort of gathered that,” he offered her a sticky note. “For next time.”

She took it and found a set of numbers written upon it.

“Top’s his home number last I knew, bottom’s ours.”

“I…thank you.”

“No problem. I’ll go get your coat.”

She nodded as he left the room.


End file.
